It’s a word used for a girl or a woman. This word first appeared in Australian English in 1832 with the spelling shelah.
It was initially used in Australia to refer to a woman of Irish origin, but from the late 19th century onwards it became a general term for a woman or girl.
And its also a girls name, sometimes spelled with an i and without the second h sheila;
and in Hebrew it is the word for
a question.
sheelah or shelah: request, thing asked for.
Mark 9:11-13 – And they put a question to him
(put something to someone) – to ask someone a question.
and Matt 22:23-24.
They put to Him a sh’eilah
שאלה
(with vowel points) שְׁאֵלָה
Then one of them, a lawyer,
asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
Matt. 22:35 34. And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together. 35Oneof them,an expert in the law,testedHimwith a question:36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”…
1905 In Greek eperótaó: to inquire of
Original Word: ἐπερωτάω Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: eperótaó Phonetic Spelling: ep-er-o-tah’-o Usage: I interrogate, question, demand of.
Matthew 22:35V-AIA-3S GRK: καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν εἷς ἐξ NAS: of them, a lawyer, asked Him [a question], testing KJV: [which was] a lawyer, asked [him a question], tempting INT: and questioned [him] one of
Matthew 22:41V-AIA-3S GRK: τῶν Φαρισαίων ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ NAS: Jesus asked them a question: KJV: Jesus asked them, INT: the Pharisees questioned them
As noted above in Hebrew a
sh’eilah,sheelah or shelah
means:
request, thing asked for
Original Word: שְׁאֵלָה Transliteration: sheelah or shelah Phonetic Spelling: sheh-ay-law’
a question
or
a question about Torah or halakhah
usually posed to someone who was expected to give
an authoritive answer.
The question posed by the Tz’dukim /Sadducees is based on the law of the ‘Levirate marriage’ (Deut 25:5-10) wherein the brother of a man who dies without children is expected to marry his brothers widow in order to maintain the family line; (as Sadducees correctly state). The firstborn son of the new marriage would count as the dead mans child for inheritance purposes.
The Sadducees were an ultra-liberal, neo-political religious group of Jews who, like many Christians of today, would decidedly pick and choose what they did and didn’t want to believe with regards to their own religion.
They stood in direct contrast to the elite, ultra-conservative Pharisees who read, interpreted, and applied the Scriptures quite literally, practicing their faith upon an extreme “letter of the law” basis.
The Sadducees did not believe in angels, the existence of Hell, and denied the Resurrection – all three of which are firmly rooted in Scripture.
One of the most famous incidents concerning the Sadducees occurs when they approach Messiah with an excessively intricate question about the resurrection (Matt. 22:23-33, Mark 12:18-27, Luke 20:27-40). Although this question was designed to distort, refute, and ridicule Jesus/Yeshua’s teaching about life after death, it ended up revealing the absurdity of the Sadducees’ own reasoning and inability to comprehend Holy Scripture.
It is interesting to note that although the Sadducees and Pharisees were polar opposites, they were each united by one common quest: to plot His demise and death.
The second word is
S’mikhah/Semikhah : סמיכה
Here inMatthew 21:23, we read that they asked Yeshua/Jesus
a sheilah about His smikhah
A question about authority.
NASB: When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?’
23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said,
By what authority doest thou these things?
and who gave thee this authority? KJV.
When they could give Him no answer He replied.. Matt 21:27.
He went into the Temple area; and as he was teaching, the head cohanim and the elders of the people approached him and demanded, “What s’mikhah do you have that authorizes you to do these things? And who gave you this s’mikhah?” Yeshua answered, “I too will ask you a sh’eilah/question. If you answer it, then I will tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things. The immersion of Yochanan — where did it come from? From Heaven or from a human source?” They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, `From Heaven,’ he will say, `Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, `From a human source,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard Yochanan as a prophet.” So they answered Yeshua, “We don’t know.” And he replied, “Then I won’t tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things. Matt. 21: 23-27.
s’mikhah סמכות
In Hebrew means:
leaning or laying on of hands in the ordination ceremony
for a judge elder or rabbi.
S’mikhah has many more meanings and functions in the Kingdom.
S’mikhah can mean:
anointing, ordination, transfer, or even authority.
Exodus 28:41. So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him.
Yeshua/Jesus, was legitimately challenged by the high priest and the elders of the people about the source of the s’mikhah that gave him the authority to teach in the temple. This authority is traceable back to the time of Moshe and is known as the great succession.
The great succession started in the desert when the children of Israel were discontented with the manna that YHVH had provided for them, in their hearts they longed/lusted for the food left behind in Egypt. They grumbled to Moses continually and by default to Almighty God. This angered Him and He destroyed some of the people by sending fire to the outskirts of the camp.(Ex 18: 1-3). Even after the fire, some among the mixed multitude continued to complain, stirred up God’s anger once again; so He provided an answer to the cry for meat by sending quails and He also addressed Moses’ burden by relieving the load of authority that he carried:
Adonai said to Moshe, “Bring me seventy of the leaders of Israel, people you recognize as leaders of the people and officers of theirs. Bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit which rests on you and put it on them. Then they will carry the burden of the people along with you, so that you won’t carry it yourself alone. Num. 11:16-17.
Moshe went out and told the people what ADONAI had said. Then he collected seventy of the leaders of the people and placed them all around the tent. ADONAI came down in the cloud, spoke to him, took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy leaders. When the Spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied -then but not afterwards. There were two men who stayed in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad, and the Spirit came to rest on them. They were among those listed to go out to the tent, but they hadn’t done so, and they prophesied in the camp. Num. 11:24-26.
This is s’mikhah, the transferring of the power of the Ruach HaKodesh/Gods’ Spirit of Holiness, that was upon Moses by the Almighty, to 70 other individuals.
When Moses was about to die, he asked the Lord God to provide continual leadership for the people after his death. God appointed Y’hoshua/Joshua, the son of Nun, to replace Moses and told him to perform s’mikhah so that some of the power of His Ruach Hakodesh that was on Moses may be transferred to Joshua/Y’hoshua:
Take Y’hoshua the son of Nun, a spiritual man, and lay your hand on him. Put him in front of El’azar the Cohen and the whole community, and commission him in their sight. Delegate to him some of your authority, so that the entire community of Isra’el will obey him. He is to present himself to El’azar the Cohen, who is to find out by means of the urim what ADONAI’s will is for Y’hoshua’s decisions. Then, at his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, both he and all the people of Isra’el with him, the whole community.” Moshe did as ADONAI had ordered him. He took Y’hoshua, put him before El’azar the Cohen and the whole community, laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as ADONAI had said through Moshe. Num. 27:15-23.
The principle of s’mikhah is that the person who lays hand must have something to transfer, because they can’t transfer what they don’t have. This principle is behind the great succession. The names of the seventy men that the power was transferred to from Moshe were recorded and kept as a document of continuance; so that there would always be seventy men in Israel to whom the people could go to resolve their problems. These men, before they died, would appoint their successor and lay hands on them. The successors name would then be recorded among those that rule and resolve the problems of Israel.
S’mikhah is the laying of hands, an event with an clear history in the Scriptures, as far back as Yitz’chak/Isaac, later, made more formal by Moses. It is a key function of the Body of Messiah Yeshua; S’mikhah is part of the foundation of understanding for all believers. The word itself carries different meanings and values depending on who is using it and for what purpose.
Today, within the Body of Messiah, s’mikhah is concerned with the transfer of power; sometimes called the anointing or shekinah presence. It is impossible to start or transfer divine power, unless it has first been given by His Rauch HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness.
The laying on of hands in the Tanakh/Old Testament, is a symbolic act that confers or transfers an office. This rabbinic ordination, allows the recipient the right to judge and to decide on points of halakhah, (Jewish traditional law). Here, the cohanim/priests and elders in Matt 21:24are basically asking Jesus/Yeshua.
What kind of ordination did you receive that entitles you to teach as authoritatively as you do? to decide points of halakhah as you do? and to disturb the peace in the Temple courts?
With Messiah there was no obvious evidence of His s’mikhah, so the confrontation by the High priest and elders asking:
What s’mikhah do you have that authorizes you to do these things? And who gave you this s’mikhah?”
was from a legalistic and political stance.
Messiahs reply.
Yeshua answered, “I too will ask you a
sh’eilah/question.
If you answer it, then I will tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things. The immersion of Yochanan — where did it come from? From Heaven or from a human source?” They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, `From Heaven,’ he will say, `Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, `From a human source,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard Yochananas a prophet.” Matt. 21: 24-26.
If they say John/Yochanan received his s’mikhah from the Lord God, their position would be completely undermined because Yochanan/Johns mission was to identify the Messiah/Mashiach to Israel but they had not believed him and John/Yochanan had been killed.
The s’mikhah through their covenant had provided the children of Israel with a steady, reliable and controlled form of being governed. It had been their anchor in times of acute distress for example; While under Roman occupation it was deemed pointless trying to change the people of Israel through their authority and laws because the people always referred back to their leaders who had s’mikhah.
After the death and the resurrection of Messiah, a far greater challenge presented itself to the children of Israel. This began when ordinary men and women of h’derek/The Way, who had none of the legal or Tenakh/old Covenant training associated with s’mikhah; suddenly started to lay hands on others and do extraordinary miracles with a new kind of authority/s’mikhah.
The challenge to the established order was obvious. These were ordinary people who performed s’mikhah resulting in miracles by His Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness.
An unprecedented change had taken place and everything said about Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, in whose name the s’mikhah were carried out, stood as a testimony against Israel’s leaders.
These leaders would have to realize that not only had they killed the Messiah/Mashiach but that the Lord God had moved His Spirit and divine inspiration from them, and placed it onto ordinary people those who were the believers in Jesus/Yeshua.
The reaction by this group of decision makers was to change the name s’mikhah to minnuy! This made a distinction between the older established tradition and succession of s’mikhah, and the people of h’derek/The Way. They drew very negative conclusions about the power behind the miracles being performed by making this distinction.
The priesthood comprising Aharon/Aaron and his sons were shadows pointing to Another, One that was to come, Who has the glory of the Almighty. We know the fullness of that glory is in Yeshua/Jesus, the high priest/cohen hakadol, in Whom the Father’s glory is reflected in an everlasting priesthood.
It becomes even clearer if a different kind of cohen, one like Malki-Tzedek, arises, one who became a Cohen not by virtue of a rule in the Torah concerning physical descent, but by virtue of the power of an indestructible life. Heb. 7:15-16.
Managing the sins of the people was the exclusive role of the priesthood, who must themselves be cleansed from sin before undertaking that role. In this process, the people confess their sins to the priests over an innocent sacrificial animal, where s’mikhah is performed and the sins of the people are transferred to the innocent sacrificial animal, whether this is performed for an individual or for an entire nation. The Tenakh includes many prophesies that sin would one day be borne by an innocent; One who had committed no sin. They spoke of the innocence of Messiah as the sinless lamb of God Who was prepared from the foundation of the earth for this very specific purpose.
Here is another application principle of the Body of Messiah and of s’mikhah, that one person does for all; and the example is drawn from the role of the High Priest, who once every year, confesses the sins of the whole nation by laying his hands upon an innocent creature, so that the creature may bear the sins of the people:
So it could be said likewise the body of believers in Messiah Jesus/Yeshua perform acts which are for the whole body. The body is intimately joined together as one, so it could follow that the act of s’mikhah performed by one is, the act of the one performing for the many, under the guide of the head/Messiah?
S’mikhah/authority does not come before understanding, it comes after truth and light have been received, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened. The laying on hands, when it happens, is to transfer power of His Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness for a particular reason and purpose.
S’mikhah is performed in Jesus/Yeshua’s name:And these signs will accompany those who do trust: in my name they will drive out demons, speak with new tongues, not be injured if they handle snakes or drink poison, and heal the sick by laying hands on them.” Mark 16:17-18.
It is for us a sheilah/question of smikhah/authority because it isessential to know by whose authority do we minister?
Is it our own authority or that conferred by men and institutions; or because we have a title in front of our name and letters after it? Or is it truly smikhah from our Heavenly Fathers Ruach HaKodesh/spirit of Holiness, given, received and imparted to others in the name of Jesus the Messiah/Yeshua haMashiach?
It is indeed a serious ? A Question About Authority!
Shalom shalom mishpachah/family
and cheverim/friends!
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.
… and…
it’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
NOT SURE?
YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
A Question About Authority.
